Phil Kessel wasn't playing golf Tuesday. He does, however, expect to play hockey by Thursday, Oct. 13, the night of the Penguins' home opener.
Offseason hand surgery won't end the right wing's 528-game iron man streak.
"I'll be ready to start the first game of the year," Kessel said prior to the team's annual Summer Sticks event at Allegheny Country Club in Sewickley, Pa.
Kessel does expect to rest some during training camp, which begins Friday, but surgery on July 8 fixed the "little bone chip" that bugged Kessel for much of last season.
"It feels a lot better now than it did last year," Kessel said.
"Doctors are pretty good nowadays. I wasn't too concerned, and it worked out well."
Kessel is 14 games shy of San Jose's Patrick Marleau for the fourth-longest consecutive-games-played stretch among active players. Florida's Keith Yandle has played 551, Anaheim's Andrew Cogliano 704.
Acquired on July 1, 2015, Kessel's Penguins tenure didn't begin the way many thought it would. A 50-goal season playing with either Sidney Crosby or Evgeni Malkin never came to fruition.
Instead, Kessel found the most success playing with Nick Bonino and Carl Hagelin on the HBK line, which officially started March 13.
Kessel before March 13: 67 games, 20 goals, 45 points, .67 points per game
And after: 39 games (including playoffs), 16 goals, 36 points, .92 points per game
In the postseason, Kessel led the Penguins with 10 goals and 22 points and nearly won the Conn Smythe Trophy.
"You're going to have to talk to coach about that," Kessel said when asked whether he would lobby to keep the same linemates. "See what he says."
It's doubtful Mike Sullivan will change what was easily the NHL's best line of the playoffs. You probably have a better chance of seeing Crosby play defense or Matt Murray quarterback the power play.
Reigniting what that group had at the end of the season, though, is a real concern for Kessel, simply because it would be tough for any line to match that sort of output.
"I think it's always tough to go as good as we were going at the end of the season and in the playoffs," Kessel said. "But if we get put together, we'll try to do it again."
Before Tuesday, Kessel's status was one of the few the question marks Penguins had entering camp.
When asked in August about Kessel's health, Jim Rutherford said it's tough to know for sure with these types of injuries and said the Penguins would proceed with caution.
It was a logical response, although that probably became a bigger story than it should have been.
The truth is that Kessel always plays. It's that trait that led Rutherford, after signing Kessel last summer, to proclaim that "maybe he's onto something."
"I just try to always play no matter what," Kessel said. "I have to be really banged up not to play."
Or to not score.
The 26 goals Kessel scored last season represented his eighth consecutive 20-plus-goal season.
Extrapolate his goal-scoring with the HBK line over a full 82 games, and you get 34, a number he has eclipsed four times. Kessel also posted the second-best Goals Against Per 60 (GA60) mark of his career (2.12).
The point here is that there's no sense worrying about Kessel. The guy might not care much for the media thing _ why should he? _ but he shows up to work every day and does his job, the perfect Pittsburgh player.
"I'm pretty comfortable here," Kessel said. "We have a good group. We basically have the same group. Hopefully we can have another great year."
And if the Penguins win another Stanley Cup _ or 10 _ don't expect Kessel to change. He hasn't yet, outside of last year's push to improve his play away from the puck.
"Same player," Kessel said when asked if last season changed him at all. "But I won. Stanley Cup champ. No one can ever take that away."
